Millions spent on vaccine rollout

Emergency contracts meant to improve state’s response, but few details made public

Maryland health officials have signed at least two emergency contracts to improve the state’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccine, committing taxpayers to spending tens of millions of dollars while providing few public details of how the money would be spent.

The contracts, obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a public records request, show acting state Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader signed the contracts earlier this year for consulting services from Ernst & Young and call center services from Digital Mobile Innovations.

Charles Gischlar, a Maryland Department of Health spokesman, said Ernst & Young is providing “forensic accounting support to cross-check our official data and inventory tracking,” while the DMI contract is “for the 855-MDGOVax call center.”

Taxpayer groups and lawmakers often criticize the use of such emergency contracts, which do not go through the normal process of soliciting and analyzing bids from multiple vendors, out of concern they can lead to higher costs and lower value. These new state contracts already are drawing questions.

“I’m not convinced as to the value of these very large contracts,” said state Sen. Clarence Lam, a Democrat who sits on the state legislature’s Vaccine Oversight Workgroup. “It’s not clear what the state has entered into these contracts to do.”

The call center contract with Digital, or DMI, was for about $25 million and includes a renewal option worth about $9.6 million. It was signed Feb. 10 by Schrader, though services began Feb. 1, and pays the firm about $1.16 for each “engagement credit,” which includes live and automated responses to calls, texts or other contacts.

It came amid criticism of the state’s vaccine rollout as slow and inequitable, as well as inaccessible to those who are less tech-savvy, are homebound or do not have a computer.

The new call line allows people to book appointments at the state’s mass vaccination centers, but not other facilities such as those operated by pharmacies, health departments or hospitals.

Lam questioned the need for an emergency contract for work the state should have known would be needed months ago.

He also raised specific questions about why Ernst & Young was needed given that the state had added Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as an unpaid consultant.

“I don’t see every other state entering into contracts to work with the federal government,” Lam said. “It really begs the question: Why aren’t they better prepared at what should be their job?”

The contract information provided to The Sun by the state did not include information about the full scope of services to be provided by Ernst & Young or the fee. It was signed Jan. 29 by Schrader.

Lam said he requested further information from the state, which he said he’s not received. He brought up the contract during recent vaccine oversight workgroup meetings with Schrader.

Schrader told the lawmakers zthe firm was handling “a number of things” for the state, offering a national perspective on the supply chain and “helping us unravel some of the mysteries of the federal allocation and accounting system.”

At a recent Annapolis news conference, Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said Ernst & Young “is earning their keep,” and had identified “a couple hundred thousand doses” that the state had received from the federal government but not yet used.

Documents obtained by The Sun separately from the public records request show the cost would be $3.79 million for the 90-day contract with Ernst & Young, with two 90-day renewal options.

Altogether, the cost of the two contracts could reach about $46 million.

It’s not clear how many emergency contracts the Hogan administration has signed that relate to the vaccine rollout, which has lagged behind that of other states, according to information collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others.

Asked about its contract with the state, Ernst & Young referred questions to Michael Ricci, a spokesman for Hogan.

DMI did not respond to a request for comment.

Ricci deferred questions about the contracts to the health department for comment.

Gischlar said contract information had been submitted to the state Board of Public Works, which approves such state spending.

John T. Gontrum, a spokesman for the board, said the Ernst & Young contract was not received in time to be placed on the agenda for the March 10 meeting but should be on the agenda for the March 24 meeting. He also said there likely would be at least one other emergency contract considered.

Lawmakers said emergency contracts are not necessarily a problem, provided they offer value to the state.

“It is an emergency, so we wouldn’t want to get weighted down,” said state Sen. James C. Rosapepe, a Democrat who also sits on the vaccine oversight committee.

“If it helped us understand the federal rules, that would actually made sense to me. The big picture is they desperately need expert help. Whether they are getting it or not is the question.”

Hogan has been a critic of emergency contracts in the past, specifically during the response to the 2014 rollout of the online exchange created under the Affordable Care Act.

Maryland’s exchange crashed on its first day and residents could not sign up for health insurance. The system was scrapped eventually for new technology. A Sun analysis of public records found the administration of former Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, awarded $84 million in contracts without competition, about a third of the money spent on the troubled website.

After Hogan became governor, his office issued a statement that expressed his opposition to noncompetitive contract awards on the exchange and beyond.

“Since taking office, Gov. Hogan has directed agency chiefs to correct issues related to single- and no-bid contracts,” the statement said.

“Without a thorough and competitive bidding process, taxpayers are unable to trust that their money is being spent as efficiently as possible.”

The bidding process used by governments serves multiple purposes, including transparency with taxpayer dollars and assurance the money is well spent, said Charles Tiefer, a University of Baltimore law professor who follows contracting issues.

He said without competitive bidding through normal channels, it’s easier to misspend.

A recent example came from former Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, which Tiefer said vastly overpaid for personal protective equipment.

Tiefer couldn’t comment specifically on emergency contracting during the pandemic in Maryland since the extent of the contracting was unknown. But he said the Hogan administration had ample time to set up for vaccine rollout and shouldn’t have needed to work outside normal channels.

State officials are permitted to use emergency contracting, he said. But there is a provision that makes clear “Maryland administration law doesn’t want officials to use emergency procurement as a way of avoiding competition,” he said.

Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Wednesday that the team plans to use Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie as its alternate training site in April to replace the first month of the Triple-A season. However, the home of the Orioles’ Double-A Baysox will be more dedicated to Triple-A players and major league depth than younger prospects the way it was last summer.

Elias said Heston Kjerstad, who is recovering from myocarditis and hasn’t taken part in any baseball activities since the Orioles selected him second overall last June, will report there once that site opens instead of going to major league camp in Florida.

But otherwise, that site will be for depth players and prospects who would have been at Triple-A, Elias said.

“If we continue to feel hopeful about minor league spring training going off in Florida the way we all want it to, and sort of the trajectory of the Triple-A alternate site and the minor league Opening Day and the minor league camps here in Florida, then I do think we’re going to see a much more Triple-A themed roster in Bowie for this April. And then a lot more of our younger prospects will remain in Florida or report to Florida if they’re not already there.”

MLB’s original plan was to have the Triple-A season start in April, and for the rest of an organization’s minor leaguers to report to spring training at that time to prepare for a season that’s meant to start in early May.

However, to better fit the league’s health and safety protocols, the Triple-A schedule for April was scrapped in favor of training sites similar to the ones used last summer.

“We’re also hopeful that it’s something that’s going to need to be in play in the early part of the season in April, and then we’re able to transition into normal minor league competition that we’ve all been sorely missing for a while,” Elias said. “I think the Orioles, in particular, are very eager to get back to minor league play.”

Much of what Elias said would happen was the logical conclusion when the plan to replace the first month of the Triple-A season with the alternate site was announced last week.

It’s still too early to determine who will be there, how many players will be accommodated and whether they’ll be able to take advantage of being allowed to play against other team’s training site squads within driving distance, such as Washington and Philadelphia.

It stands to reason, though, that many of the upper-minors players will be at the Bowie site — those who are in Sarasota as camp reserves, nonroster invitees and those on the 40-man roster who don’t make the majors.

For prospects, that means pitchers Mike Baumann, Zac Lowther and Alexander Wells, plus outfielders Yusniel Diaz and Ryan McKenna. There also could be former major leaguers who

are off the roster such as Thomas Eshelman, Cody Carroll and Evan Phillips.

But once camp breaks and the team heads north for Opening Day in Boston on April 1, younger prospects who are in the major league camp mix, such as Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg, will likely stay there to prepare for the minor league season with their future teammates. It’s at that time that the rest of the team’s prospect base will join them.

Kjerstad will be the only exception. Elias said him being in Bowie was a “special case,” presumably to keep him closer to Baltimore and in more of a controlled setting as he begins to work his way back from that heart condition that’s now kept him away from the game for a year.

But Elias said Kjerstad’s health continues to improve.

“Everything has continued to trend very well with him and look very good,” Elias said. “It’s going to be something where he’s going to need a little bit more time after this layoff to go through a rehab protocol, to return to game shape, but we’re very hopeful that he will be able to do that this season and I know that we’re all eager to see him in action. I know he’s eager to join the activities finally after what he’s been through.”

Elias said the Bowie camp last year was successful from both a targeted player development standpoint and from the perspective of preparing players for the big leagues. Cedric Mullins and DJ Stewart each performed better in the majors after their time there, while outfielder Ryan Mountcastle and pitchers Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin and Bruce Zimmermann each debuted on the back of their experience there.

That doesn’t mean the Orioles aren’t ready for games to begin at Norfolk, Bowie, Aberdeen and Delmarva, though.

“I think it’s a start,” Elias said. “We’ve got to start getting back to normal in terms of just the development, the instruction that was missed last year. … Overall, for the whole population of players it’s a big negative impact for us to not have minor league baseball across the levels because I think that certain players need failure, different types of failure. They need game experience. They need to face unpredictable different competition on different nights. They need to get used to the professional game. Whatever it may be, we’ve all been accustomed to what minor league baseball provides in terms of preparing these guys for the big leagues.”

Elias said the Orioles will “just be happy that it’s getting off the ground,” when it finally begins, though a year into the coronavirus pandemic they know not to get too attached to any one plan.

“2021 won’t be the same as 2019, but it’s going to be better than 2020,” he said.